Not going in that “Cabin in the Woods”: a case study in divergent tastes

“This is the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen.” - My Sister

Given the pedigree behind “The Cabin in the Woods” and that my sister has voiced support for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s other work, I thought this would be a slam dunk. I didn’t reckon with her distaste for horror films. Liking “Zombieland” does not a fan girl make. I realize my mistake and my way to make this up is to watch “The Holiday”. This is not equitable. I like “The Holiday” (it’s Nancy Meyers, after all, and sure it’s a little sappy, but c’mon: Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black do a swell job). It’s one of the rom-coms I genuinely like. 

“Serendipity” or “Shallow Hal” would be harsher pay-back, but sis is taking it easy on me, I think. 

However, that’s not what’s on my mind as I write this. I know that most people I know would rally around the “Pro-Cabin Cause” and rise to defend one of the wittiest meta-texts in recent cinema. There are plenty of think pieces and positive reviews and analyses on “Cabin..” and frankly, that doesn’t mean much if you’re not on-board with the genre and its well-worn tropes. 

To be sure, “Cabin” is pretty nihilistic, and if you’re not clued in to the larger narrative, much less if you don’t like the genre, then the whole enterprise of watching it is dead in the water (unlike some zombies we know in the film). In fact, if you come into it expecting thrills, you may well wonder if you walked into the wrong movie. Those thrills do come, but in the meantime, you’re treated to what could be work-place comedy starring Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford that somehow relates to a bunch of college kids going off to party. 

Bait, meet switch.

When I saw the flick in the theater, I sussed out the meta-elements pretty quickly but still wasn’t sure of what the long game was. By the end of the movie, I was blown away that the Old Gods were rising to bring humanity to an end and usher in a new world. Fran Kranz’s Marty and I shared the sentiment that maybe it’s time for humanity to end its stupidity. I walked out thinking, too, that Goddard really likes to end his films with debris falling before a couple at the end of the world (see also “Cloverfield”). 

It’s not a rom-com…

Sis was (is?) concerned for my brain since I laughed at loud at different points (because, you know, funny) and how I could like this movie. At all.

Oil, meet water. I don’t mean that we don’t like the same things; far from it. But this is one area where there will be no agreement. The difference is that “The Cabin in the Woods” will, for her, be a “bad” movie, and it’s not that. Had I to subject myself to “Serendipity” again, I wouldn’t necessarily call that a bad movie; trite, trying too hard and failing, fine actors saddled with a lame script, but a case could be made that moments of the film are enjoyable. (“Shallow Hal”, though? Not a chance; that’s one of the movies that drives me to side with Marty and ring in the Apocalypse.)

“Serendipity” is a mediocre work from the romantic comedy genre that brought nothing new to the genre and is forgettable fluff on a good day. “The Cabin in the Woods” is the work of two writer-directors who have contributed greatly to the media landscape (Whedon’s CV is well-known, but Goddard worked with Whedon on “Buffy” and “Angel” and JJ Abrams on “Lost” as a writer, and aside from “Cloverfield”, “Cabin”, and “Bad Times at the El Royale”, was the show runner for the Marvel Netflix “Daredevil” series, produced “The Martian” as well as executive producer on “The Good Place”; in other words, he’s not an idiot.) It’s unfair to compare the two, but the reason I bring it up is that the one work advanced popular filmmaking through its inventive use of satire and post-modern narrative strategies while still providing suspense, thrills, and shocks true to the genre it was commenting on and the other is a flaccid bit of effluvia that, well, is inoffensive. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Sometimes, the anodyne is precisely what you want and not everything has to be clever, challenging, or confrontational. In retrospect, I have learned a valuable lesson, read the room better. 

By way of postscript, I have to question my sister’s dislike of horror movies. She really likes “A Quiet Place” and “Get Out” and while she might argue that’s because of the characters and their plights, and not because of the genre itself, I pause for further reflection. 

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Okay. I’m done.

Are there films you’ve shared with near and dear ones that you just didn’t see eye to eye on or worse, one of you despised and the other loved? Leave a comment. I’d like to know I’m not alone in this!